notify
Americanverb (used with object)
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notifies,
present (3rd person singular)
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notified,
past participle, past
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notifying
present participle
verb
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to inform; tell
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to draw attention to; make known; announce
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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notifiernoun
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prenotifyverb (used with object)
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renotifyverb (used with object)
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notifiableadjective
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unnotifiedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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notifysimple
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notifiessimple
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have notifiedperfect
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has notifiedperfect
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am notifyingprogressive
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are notifyingprogressive
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is notifyingprogressive
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have been notifyingperfect progressive
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has been notifyingperfect progressive
Past
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notifiedsimple
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had notifiedperfect
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was notifyingprogressive
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were notifyingprogressive
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had been notifyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of notify
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English notifien, from Middle French notifier, from Latin nōtificāre, from (g)nōt(us), past participle of (g)nōscere “to come to know” ( see also know 1) + -ificāre -ify
Explanation
To notify is to officially give someone a piece of information. If your poem wins the local poetry competition, the judges will notify you that you're the winner. When you notify someone about something, it can be good or bad news. New parents notify friends and family about their baby's birth. When a library's money problems force it to close on Sundays, it might notify its patrons with an email or a letter. Notify comes from the Latin notificare, "to make known," which stems from notus, "known," and facere, "make or do."
Vocabulary lists containing notify
Selection Vocabulary 2, Unit 5
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Under a 2005 global health pact called the International Health Regulations, countries are required to notify the World Health Organization within 24 hours of an event that could become an international public health emergency.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
For example, if a patient was unable to attend an appointment, a navigator could notify the doctor, arrange a new appointment, or handle administrative tasks that might otherwise fall to clinical staff.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
But residents couldn’t have appealed a decision they didn’t know about, since the county had failed to notify them of the hearing, Josefberg said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
TikTok will also limit children's accounts being discovered by adults, and notify parents to any "suspicious interactions" between teen users and adult users.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
Our old pipes notify me as Mom begins to do the dishes after work, and the floorboards announce her as she climbs the stairs.
From "Dumplin'" by Julie Murphy
The IRS notifies households of penalties by a written letter sent through the mail.
From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026
The company introduced a new no-show alert last fall: Parents set an expected school-arrival time and it notifies them if their child doesn’t show up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 21, 2026
One caveat is that the law requires that “the pupil notifies the school ahead of the absence.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 16, 2026
The IDN, for instance, has a system to alert trained observers to respond to ICE action, and notifies people based on their proximity to the action.
From Salon ● Feb. 13, 2026
The check is returned marked N.S.F., and the Security National Bank notifies Springer of the situation and of the fact that his account has been charged with $104, the amount of the draft plus expenses.
From Business English A Practice Book by Rose Buhlig
"In the future, we will ensure that any decision to close schools is notified in advance so that parents have sufficient time to prepare," Fadhlina said late on Thursday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
The State Department notified the family of Reggie’s death, but did not provide a cause of death, Bernice said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026
The company employing Anojan notified the authorities in Saudi Arabia who registered a case against him, according to Hamsidan.
From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026
An investor group notified the company of the alleged default following the completion of EA’s take-private by a consortium including Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, private-equity firm Silver Lake and Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
"Well . . . why wasn't I notified of his return?"
From "Things Not Seen" by Andrew Clements
The case spawned in Nevada, of all places, as the local Gaming Control Board sent a cease-and-desist letter notifying Kalshi that it was violating Nevada statutes and gaming regulations.
From Salon ● Aug. 31, 2026
A family almost missed out on a £1m lottery jackpot after unknowingly ignoring calls and emails notifying them that they had won.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
If you do discover an unauthorized charge on your debit card, notifying your bank or credit union within two business days of noticing the fraud caps your maximum liability at $50.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026
Initially, the model degraded responses to some questions about AI development without notifying users.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Two hours before the train reached Chicago, during a brief stop, McKim received a cable notifying him that his mother, Sarah McKim, had died unexpectedly in her home, at seventy-eight.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
